Which Entry-Level Supercar Are You?

The phrase "entry level" means different things to different people. If you’re a New Yorker, a cheap cocktail at dinner costs only $13. If you’re a Silicon Valley executive, a starter home is a $2 million teardown. If you're a college kid, entry level is a handle of Popov's and a two-bedroom apartment with kegs on the porch, split five ways. That same fiscal relativity applies in the world of sports cars. Sure, you could buy a late '80s Mustang 5.0 for a couple grand—the equivalent of plastic-bottled vodka—and yee-haw while ripping burnouts all over your former high school's parking lot. But if you're looking to spike your adrenaline level and make your neighbor jealous, then you're in luck—luxury car manufacturers have set their sights on growth by expanding their speed-freak tendencies to the upwardly-mobile masses. Here are six all-new, entry-level rides, arranged from business class to "How do you like my new G8?"

Courtesy of Audi

The Junior Executive: Audi RS3

Base price: $55,450The standard-edition A3 is Audi’s cheapest least-expensivest car—essentially a Volkswagen Golf that shops retail. But the RS version from the brand's “Audi Sport” sub-brand shoehorns in a screaming 400-hp turbocharged 5-cylinder engine, Quattro all-wheel-drive to keep you on the road, and a launch control system that will allow you to go from zero to sixty mph in just 3.5 seconds. That's as fast as a $125,000 Porsche 911 Carrera 4 GTS.

Nick Dimbleby

The Future of Speed: Jaguar I-PACE

Base price: $69,500Every luxury automaker is working on developing a lineup of purely battery-powered electric vehicles, but only Jaguar will have one you can actually buy in (late) 2018, and this is it. The five-door I-PACE isn't so much a supercar as a space-age travel pod stuck abiding by gravity. Its airy snub-nosed shape is made possible by the lack of an gasoline engine up front, and inside you'll find a trio of screens force-feeding information and entertainment into your eyes. With 240 miles of range, all-wheel drive, and acres of space, it's everyday practical. With the kind of eyeball-elongating speed that electric motors deliver from the moment you smash the pedal, it's also capable of silently blowing the doors off everything else on the road.

Courtesy of Porsche

The Weekend Toy: Porsche 718 Boxster GTS

Base price: $82,950Last year, Porsche replaced the six-cylinder engines in their starter cars—the Cayman and the convertible Boxster—with a more efficient turbocharged four-cylinder. The downside? There isn’t one. The motor's got more grunt, the power comes on sooner, and it (still) sounds raspy and delightful. The GTS version is the smartest upgrade you can make this side of a reserved movie seat for an 8pm Friday showing—you get body-hugging seats, tighter handling, a more intoxicating exhaust note, big-n-menacing black wheels, and and upgrades for the engine, which continues the hang out right behind your head in the Boxster.

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The Sexy Beast: Aston Martin Vantage

__ Base price: $189,281__
We’re going to make a bit of a leap here. A six-figure leap. That’s what happens when you enter the exotic car arena. But, you get what you pay for, as evinced by this all-new version of the most affordable sports car from this venerable, British, boutique, sport-luxury manufacturer. The two-door replaces a 14-year-old design, and supersedes it on every level: proportions that inspire fetishes, an interior that belongs in Architectural Digest, genuinely modern technology, and a punchier-than-ever twin-turbocharged V8 engine (the tech and motor come courtesy of Mercedes-Benz, which is a stakeholder in Aston these days). Advantage, Vantage.

Courtesy of Bentley Motors

The Road King: Bentley Continental GT

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Base price: $201,000 (estimate)Bentley has had incredible success with the past two generations of its locomotive and luxurious Grand Tourer, which prefers to go by its initials, thank you. This is the third generation since the GT showed up in 2003, but the first that looks sleek instead of like a bejeweled bulldog. That slippery shape hides a handcrafted interior with a cool rotating center console (LCD touchscreen, analog gauges, book-matched wood veneers) and a 12-cylinder engine that makes over 620 hp, enough to push this super-coupe to a top speed of 207 mph.

Courtesy of Ferrari

The Valet Favorite: Ferrari Portofino

__ Base price: $219,533__
Ferrari purists like to scoff at the brand's babies, since they're historically built more for show than go, but the Portofino delivers on both fronts. Because it shares a motor with its hyperactive sibling (and one of the world's best sports cars), the 488 GTB, it can rip off three-second runs from zero to 60 mph and top out near 200 mph. In the Portofino's case, the motor is up front, instead of in the middle—what it sacrifices in race-track twitchiness, it gains in creating space for the folding metal convertible top that allows everyone to see you driving a Ferrari.

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